“An article about the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, spending $250,000 on travel and lodging over five years, far more than other local district attorneys.”
I see the point about keeping the hotel costs down, after reading that.
But I’m thinking I don’t want our lawmakers getting to their destination all tied up like a pretzel any more than some of my bosses almost always upgraded us (though with miles) because they didn’t want us to land in San Francisco to do a due diligence tax review for a $100-million acquisition not ready to jump in (in case of flight delay), at times direct from the airport. I was late 20s then; Cy Vance’s need for a comfortable seat are probably far more crucial to the nation than mine ever were to anyone. I just sense upgrades by miles are tougher now.
Tune of “Stuck In The Middle With You”
No, I don’t mind saving some dough
I don’t mind finding fares that are low.
But as soon as I get off of the plane,
Don’t you guys want full use of my brain
Drunk to the left of me,
Blowhard to the right
It’s not glam -
Stuck with the middle-seat blues.
Yes, I am -
Stuck with the middle-seat blues
3
Here is a better solution for congestion. Don't amend this idea, end this idea. As long as it hasn't been finalized it can still be stopped. I suggest to everyone who lives in downstate NY to either write to their local politicians telling them just that as well as mentioning that at hearings. The more that do this, the more they can't ignore us.
Thank you Ben Stiller! For courage far beyond the call of duty, give the boy a medal.
1
Azi:
There must have been another paper called The New York Sun. The one I read was a strident neoconservative rag. There was a particularly memorable rant against the supposedly outsized number of state regulations. The argument, and I do not exaggerate, was: There are too many laws! Look at all the books in the library with them! They take up an entire shelf!
Among the many outrages of government intervention, the writer criticized safety regulations requiring public school students to wear protective gear during science labs and cleaners to wear masks to avoid inhaling toxic fumes.
On occasion, there was some good criticism.
6
@Lifelong Reader The Sun was right. Maybe not in the selective laws you cite, but in many many others. There is very little balance when it comes to the City Council legislating over the private sector, especially when compliance requires more government workers but overall costs the city little.
@dave
Those were the state laws the ARTICLE WRITER cited. He thought that safety regs that protected school children and cleaners dealing with harmful chemicals were unneeded. How did he think those laws came to be enacted?
They were New York State laws enacted by lawmakers in Albany.
2
"Don’t touch anyone.
Don’t bump elbows.
Don’t hold hands.
Don’t lose focus.
Don’t leer."
And for the love of God, STAY TO THE RIGHT!
11
Good luck to 'The City' -- In this age of rampant greed and destruction they'll no doubt have plenty to report about.
Like that recent deal concerning landlords getting a break because their lawyer is fundraising for Mayor de Blasio.
While not surprising, it's probably just the tip of the entire real-estate scam associated with this city.
Go get 'em!
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A great city like New York should have 10 newspapers. It’s disgraceful how little nyc is reported on especially in the New York Times.
7
@Mickey, I'm wondering: there's so much available on the Mayor, on Corey Johnson and pretty much every move he and the NYC Council makes, the Public Advocate race when it was going on, the Big City section, even the sometimes funny coverage of subjects like the Holland Tunnel lettering 'controversy," which nI;m sure everyone counts as NYC. But is all the coverage of architecture and culture in NYC not counted as "NYC" for this purpose - even if the actual reviews are thought of differently, certainly the hard-news takes on the business and legal side lately are"NYC coverage"; we're learning this century even more how culture in New York City and tourism factors in the City's economics, as money spent by tourists on actual event tickets gets dwarfed by the amounts spent on other industries by visitors from all over being drawn here, what we thought of once as "Bridge and tunnel."
For better or worse, and it's controversial at times, even the Governor has openly made spending of our tax dollars at times with an eye towards keeping public transit a good experience for tourists, so they'll keep coming back (the way public transit has been a feature that makes visitors happily go back to D.C. or Boston rather than fear the high cost of getting around.)
3
The City is no threat to the NYT—they jettisoned local news years ago.
6
Interesting column today. Thanks Azi.
5
I do wish "The City" well. I hope they continue to expose the poor quality and inflated cost of local services and the hypocrisy of excessive regulation to the point where folks demand better from their elected officials, and check the power of local labor unions. I had hoped a large employer like Amazon might serve this purpose. Perhaps others feared the same.
4
Taxis should absolutely get an exemption from congestion pricing - but why would Ubers? The clogging of the streets with cruising Ubers is exactly what drove this plan in the first place.
Same with commuters from LI and NJ - sorry but the point is to get you NOT to drive in.
12
I like "The City" logo being a pigeon; it suits us. Ben Franklin had wanted the national bird to be a turkey instead of an eagle, but the founding fathers wanted an image that soars, rather then a more practical one.
During my childhood in Brooklyn we would go up on the roofs (aka tar beach) to escape the city heat and to see the pigeons (aka roof rabbits). There were a lot of pigeon coops back then; I wonder if there still are?
7
@Billy from Brooklyn, re"Ben Franklin had wanted the national bird to be a turkey instead of an eagle," We all had different experiences of birds in our Brooklyn childhood! At 1:59 at that link, why I never will forget that Franklin wanted the turkey. On the album, it sounded like the silliest song imaginable, but onstage watching the founding fathers take a silly light moment got the loudest ovation of the night first time I saw the show!
"The Egg" from "1776" film - Jefferson wanted the dove, Franklin wanted the turkey, Adams wanted the eagle - but Adams is the star part of the show...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ubj8G5smeA
4
@Billy from Brooklyn
I did spend some summer days on tar beaches but I've never seen pigeon coops. The closest I've ever come is that horrifying scene in "On the Waterfront."
My grandfather called pigeons "rats with wings." I've had the misfortune of being spattered by them (always while wearing something brand new). I'm not very sentimental about them.
2